Dinner
by Alex Breen
Summary: Very short one shot of the first meeting dinner between Petunia, Vernon, Lily and James, as briefly described by JKR on Pottermore. Let me know what you think!


**A/N: Who else is on Pottermore? After reading the snippets JK Rowling put up, I decided to write this really short story based off of the dinner between Petunia, Vernon, Lily and James, and when they first meet. Hope you enjoy :-)**

"Must we attend this dinner?" James asked quietly, as they arrived a block away from the restaurant.

Lily rolled her eyes trying to ignore the distaste in his voice. "Of course we have to James, she's my sister," Lily replied seriously. She knew James was looking forward to this less than she was, but Petunia was, after all, her sister, and Vernon was, unfortunately, her fiancé. Little did they know, Vernon and Petunia had just had almost the same conversation minutes earlier.

"How did they meet again?" James asked.

"Petunia got an office job after going to London to pursue a typing course. Because of that she got an office job in London. They met there."

"And she sees in him...? What exactly?" he asked as they neared the restaurant.

Lily hesitated. "To Petunia... To her, he is the 'model of manliness.' Completely unmagical, opinionated and materialistic, he's everything she's ever wanted."

"Right," James replied shortly. The two of them entered the little Italian bistro and asked for the table reserved for Dursley. They were led to a small table in the back, already occupied by Petunia and Vernon. Vernon rose immediately to greet them but Petunia followed suit much more slowly.

"You must be James," Vernon said gruffly, extending his hand. James shook it lightly.

"Vernon, I assume?" he questioned politely. Vernon merely nodded before sitting down again. "And you must be Petunia," James said, extending his hand to her.

To Lily's dismay, Petunia took in James's sloppy hair and casual appearance disdainfully before looking at his hand with disgust, almost as if it would do something to her if she touched it. She shook it ever so briefly before withdrawing her hand and sitting down as well. James pulled out the chair next to Petunia, unoccupied by Vernon, and waited until Lily sat down fully before pushing it in. She smiled up at him, making his heart flutter. He smiled back and sat down between her and Vernon.

The beginning of the meal, although awkward, went fairly well. Petunia kept displaying her hand in a position that showed off her large engagement ring. Lily and Petunia had polite conversation about the décor of the restaurant while James and Vernon spoke boringly of the weather. However, things began to go very wrong when Vernon began talking about his company, and James sat there, uncertain of how much more of this Vernon he could take.

"I am just on the verge of moving up in fact. Grunnings is a marvelous company. The drills they sell are top of the line. And the office I would have overlooks the whole city..."

James blocked him out as he droned on. He was very amused by Vernon and how boring he was. James had hoped that Vernon would stop talking once dinner had arrived, but he had not. Petunia was looking at Vernon with rapt attention even though James was sure she had heard this all before. Lily was trying very hard to look interested but James could tell she was just as bored.

Finally, knowing he was probably going to regret what he was going to do, James could take it no longer. "You know none of us care, right?" he asked, interrupting Vernon in the middle of a story about how he had improved the system for tracking drills shipments. James had a wry smile on his face.

Vernon almost dropped his fork in shock. "What?" he questioned, afraid he had, in fact, heard James wrong. James was still smiling.

"To be frank, Vernon," James said, perfectly aware that Lily was trying to silently communicate to him to stop talking, "you're a very boring person. Probably one of the most boring people I've ever met, and I'd rather not spend the night listening to your boring stories and how proud you are of your completely normal life."

"And what type of car do _you_ drive, James?" Vernon asked.

"What?" It was James' turn to be confused. He had no idea why Vernon would ask him such a question. What James did not realize was Vernon saw a person's car as a reflection of their wealth and position in life.

"What type of car do you drive?" Vernon requested, now thinking that James was quite daft.

"Well," James replied, "it's wooden. Long and thin. Trimmed tail."

"It has a tail? What are you, a street racer?" Vernon asked.

"To be honest, I don't have a car sir. My mode of transportation is a broom," James replied. Both James and Vernon were looking at each other with disgust.

"James," Lily said, grasping his arm, "Please." She seemed to know what was going to happen and that this would blow up very soon.

"A broom?" Vernon asked, thinking James was making fun of him.

"Yeah, you know, a broom. State of the art, in fact. Fastest broom out there," James said, smirking.. "I suppose your er, job pays for your transportation."

Petunia was glancing hastily all around them, looking to see if anyone was paying attention

"I'll have you know," Vernon said loudly, his face turning purple, "that I am soon to be Director of Grunnings drill company. I'm sure it upsets you that I have a job. I suppose wizards have to live off of unemployment benefits."

Perfectly aware that Vernon was making fun of him, James immediately became angered. "Do you know where the bookshop is on Charring Cross Road?" James asked.

"James stop," Lily said quietly as Petunia looked on in horror. Both men ignored her.

Vernon now looked at James as if he had completely lost his mind. "Do I know where _what_ is?"

"That little bookstore on Charring Cross Road? Right next to that broken down old shop," James questioned. Vernon shook his head, uncertain as to where this was going. "Well," James responded with the air of someone who has a lot of wealth, "thousands of miles below that place, is a vault with the name Potter on it. And in that vault is more solid gold than you will see in a lifetime."

"In a vault?" Vernon questioned, thinking once more that James was making fun of him.

"Yeah. In Gringotts." Vernon gave him a blank look. "The wizarding bank." Still a blank look. "Run by goblins."

Woefully ignorant to the wizarding world, Vernon was quite sure now that James was making fun of him. His already bright face became even redder with anger.

"I will not be treated in such a manner. I refuse to be made a fool of by a disgusting rat like yourself," Vernon said, his voice gruff.

"Funny you should call me a rat," James looked amused. "I've always been described as more of a stag."

"You are an ignorant piece of work," Vernon said, trying very hard not to shout and make a scene. He did have a reputation to uphold after all. "I will not be spoken to like this."

"No one should be speaking to someone as boring as you anyways," James replied coolly.

"Petunia!" Vernon said, rather loudly, standing up. "We're leaving." Obediently, Petunia stood and laced her arm through his, looking at James with disgust.

"Tuney, no wait," Lily said, tears starting to form. Petunia turned her head to look at Lily, the look of disgust never leaving her face. Seeing that look directed at her completely disheartened Lily and she fell silent.

"I should have known this was a horrible idea. You would find some riff raff with no respect. Just look at that hair. You won't be going anywhere in life Lily and I do not want to be dragged down with you by association. I think we'll be leaving now." Lily was shocked by how cold Petunia's voice was. Had things really gotten that bad between them?

"But he didn't mean it. Right James?" she said, standing up, looking pleadingly at him.

James remained coolly in his seat. "Oh I meant every word." At that, Lily burst into tears and Vernon and Petunia stormed out angrily.

Lily shrank down into her chair her face in her hands. Looking at her, James immediately felt guilty. "Lily, Lily I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"I don't want to hear it," she choked out.

"Lily I'll make it up to you I promise," James said softly, taking her hand in his. The remorse in his voice was clear, and that was the only thing that made her look up at him. "I'm ashamed of myself, really," he said, looking into her green eyes, hating that he was the reason for the tears pouring from them.

"Why did you have to say anything?" she sniffed.

"I let my mouth run away with me. I'm sorry."

"She's my sister James." Lily looked down at her hand in his, before wiping her eyes with her free hand. "But I guess this isn't fully your fault. I should have never tried to mix my two worlds. She…she's never understood."

"But," James said, "I was an ass. And she is still your sister. And as much as I cannot stand him, that is her soon to be husband. I never should have said what I did. I promise I will make things up with Vernon next chance I get."

Lily looked at James and saw the sincerity on his face. She was still mad at him, but she was also in love with him, and though she was trying, it was very difficult to remain angry at him when she knew he was like this. He let his hot headedness take control. And truth be told, once she got over her anger she would probably be laughing at how purple Vernon's face had turned. "You promise?" she asked.

"I promise," he replied. Lily nodded slowly, her tears drying up. Then she almost started laughing. "Why do you have that smile on your face?" James asked curiously. Only a moment ago he had been afraid she would never stop crying.

"Vernon's a right prig isn't he?" Lily asked, a small laugh escaping her.

James laughed along with her. "That he is," he replied, relieved that Lily was not madder at him. "Come on," he said, taking both her hands in his. "Let's find the waiter, pay this bill, and go do something a little more fun. What do you say?"

"That sounds perfect James," she said, letting him pull her up, and after paying the two of them left the restaurant together, hand in hand.


End file.
